Israeli sailors finish one place off a medal

Nike Kornicki and Vered Buskila finished Monday's 470 Class sailing medal race in second position.

By ALLON SINAI, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT IN BEIJING
Kornicki Buskila 88 (photo credit: )
Kornicki Buskila 88
(photo credit: )
So near, yet so far away. Nike Kornicki and Vered Buskila finished Monday's 470 Class sailing medal race in second position, but failed to claim Israel's first Olympic medal of the Beijing Games after the Brazilians Fernanda Oliveira and Isabel Swan crossed the finish line ahead of them. The Israeli duo needed to end the race in Qingdao two places ahead of the Brazilians to leapfrog them into third position, but the teams were neck and neck throughout Monday's contest, forcing Kornicki and Buskila to settle for the very credible fourth position overall. "We did the best we could. If we would have lost the medal in the final day I would have cried, but we never had our fate in our own hands," said Kornicki, who celebrated her 26th birthday on Monday. "Arik Ze'evi said that he was disappointed with himself and that's the worst thing for an athlete. We're slightly sad, but we're not disappointed." Buskila agreed with her partner. "The 18th place finish in Athens was much more frustrating than this fourth position. We had excellent races and a fantastic experience," she said. Coach Ilan Tashtash also tried to see the full half of the glass. "They had a superb Olympics and met every expectation. They were within touching distance of a medal, but lost it in Saturday's poor races. The goal was to finish within the top six, but there's still a sour taste in the mouth as they could have won a medal," he said. Shahar Tzuberi continued to drop in the windsurfing standings on Monday, but is still in contention for a top three finish. The 21-year-old finished Monday's first race in a very poor 19th position, which could end up costing him a medal, but in the second race of the day crossed the line first and is in fourth place overall. Tzuberi, who has nine negative points more than Frenchman Julien Bontemps, will compete in the final regular race of the Neil Pryde contest on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's decisive medal race. In the women's competition, Ma'ayan Davidovich finished Monday's races in fourth and ninth respectively and moved up to 10th position overall, with one race remaining before the medal race. Nufar Edelman ended the Laser Radial competition in 16th position after finishing the final two races in 19th and 17th on Monday.